Ex-army general formally assumes post as Civil Defense administrator

BG PHOTO: Reuters

MANILA, Philippines — Retired General Raymundo Ferrer has taken his oath as the new administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), an official announced on Tuesday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)  spokesperson Mark Timbal said Ferrer took his oath Tuesday morning at the Department of National Defense office, with Defense officer-in-chief Jose Faustino Jr. administering the oath.

Timbal also said that Ferrer will serve as the executive director of the NDRRMC.

“He assumes office today as OCD continues to manage the impact of the Abra earthquake,” Timbal told reporters.

Prior to his mandatory retirement in 2012, Ferrer was the commander of Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.

He was also the commander of Davao City-based Eastern Mindanao Command based in Davao City from January 2009 to November 2011; commander of the 6th Infantry Division, Philippine Army operating in Central Mindanao from March 2007 to January 2009; commander of the 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army in Zamboanga Peninsula from September 2006 to March 2007; and commander of 103rd Infantry Brigade in Basilan from January 2004 to September 2006.

Meanwhile, Timbal also thanked former Civil Defense administration Undersecretary Ricardo Halad for his “memorable and triumphant” six-year leadership of the agency.

“Through his guiding hand tempered by compassionate and exemplary wisdom, OCD was able to advance as the country’s premier disaster management agency,” Timbal said of Halad.

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